Ken’s first racing involvement came during the late ’60’s and early ’70’s when he drove his 1965 Corvette at Duncan’s “Van Isle Dragways” where he won several trophies.
In 1972, Ken began crewing for Duncan Super Stock driver Doug Mackenzie and the following year joined Terry Forsyth’s car as Crew Chief where he remained for the next 6 years.
1n 1979, he joined Dick Midgley’s “Midgley Motorsports” team, their 1st race that season being at “Riverside Raceway” in California with Oregon’s Herschel McGriff as their driver. Ken regularly commuted from his home in Duncan to Dick’s racecar shop in Victoria to work on the Midgley Motorsports cars, using his full range of talents and tireless dedication to ensure that the cars were always in top form.
Two events which stand out in Ken’s memory are a complete engine changeout a half hour before the start of a race at Riverside and another engine change in Las Vegas before the car was prepared for shipment to it’s next race in Japan.
Ken has raced from BC to Saskatchewan, Washington to Florida and New York to California and in Australia, Japan and South Africa; the total number of racetracks coming in at 41.
Over the years, countless drivers and fellow crew members have benefited from Ken’s many years of racecar maintenance and crewing experience including young and new racers with whom Ken was always more than happy to share his knowledge with. Ken’s even disposition and ability to deal with anyone has served himself and others well with the knowledge learned from any racing setbacks being used as a learning tool and being applied to any future racing challenges.
Ken Emerson’s unwavering desire, dependability and commitment to both himself and fellow crew members to always do his very best have made him a very welcome addition to the “Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame”.
